WASHINGTON – Just days into his new role, DEA Administrator Terrance Cole met with a law enforcement delegation from Italy, signifying the agency’s renewed focus on working with foreign law enforcement to meet the evolving threats of the global drug crisis. On July 24, DEA Administrator Cole, DEA Deputy Chief...

Tampa, Fla. – U.S. District Judge William F. Jung has sentenced Vicente Lopez Mero (67, Ecuador) to 19 years and 6 months in federal prison for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine on a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Lopez Mero pleaded guilty on...

LOS ANGELES – A commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) foreign terrorist organization and his associate have been charged in a six-count superseding indictment alleging they are senior members of a large cocaine-manufacturing ring that trades cocaine to buy firearms to engage in terrorist...

EL PASO, Texas – A high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel was extradited from Mexico to El Paso, indicted for criminal charges related to his alleged federal racketeering, narcotics, money laundering, firearms, and continuing criminal enterprise offenses. According to court documents, Daniel Franco Lopez aka “Micha” aka “Neon” aka “Fer,”...

From November 12-13, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice, led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), along with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) participated in the tenth Bilateral Drug Intelligence Working Group in Shanghai, China. DOJ, DEA, and CBP officials met with law enforcement counterparts from China’s Ministry of...

NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is issuing a critical alert to healthcare professionals, warning of recent scam calls targeting doctors and pharmacists. Fraudsters are impersonating DEA agents to steal sensitive information and possibly extort money. Please know DEA personnel will never contact...

LOS ANGELES – A Canadian former Olympic snowboarder and 15 other defendants have been charged in a 16-count superseding indictment for allegedly running and participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation that routinely shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada and other...

ATHENS, GREECE – This week, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Hellenic Republic Ministry of Citizen Protection presided over the 38th annual International Drug Enforcement Conference (IDEC) in Greece. Hundreds of top drug enforcement officials from more than 130 countries discussed innovative ways to expand international cooperation with a...

NEWARK, N.J. – A citizen of Mexico who was extradited to the United States on narcotics trafficking charges had her initial appearance in New Jersey federal court, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) New Jersey Field Division Cheryl Ortiz, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug...

Brooklyn, NY - Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, two indictments were unsealed that detail criminal conspiracies by companies and employees based in China to manufacture and distribute fentanyl in the United States. This prosecution is among the first ever in the United States to charge Chinese chemical...